Pastor Choi and his wife
While in Korea we have built some very close relationships over the years. One of those relationships has been with Pastor Choi. Choi is training to be a pastor and has been given the responsibility to oversee the English service at the church. The English service is a tight-nit group of Koreans and Internationals that have shared in many special moments together.
Choi likes to tell his story about how he came to know the Lord. While growing up as a Buddhists he had aspirations of becoming a monk. One night his mother had a dream about Jesus. She began praying and eventually she asked Jesus into her heart. Soon after, the whole family came to know the Lord.
This picture was taken at the end of our Christmas Service
Not only have we built a deep friendship with Choi and his wife, but we have also become ministry partners. Choi has a huge heart for people and is very humble, asking for our advice from time to time. Jessica and I do our best to encourage him and serve him as best we can. We are very active in preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings. We also help plan/lead several events and outreaches through out the year.
We were both excited about this meal!
Mark (his english name) and I meet together often to fellowship and talk about ministry.The last time we met we ate at an “all you can eat” Korean BBQ place. We spent time eating, laughing, talking about our God dreams, and encouraging one another. We also spent time praying for one another for the ministry ahead. Semi-jokingly, he kept saying that he doesn’t want us to leave and that he will pray that we will stay in Korea forever.
Last year Choi had the opportunity to go to America for the first time. We had the honor of introducing him to one of our spiritual mentors. Choi stayed at Jessica parent’s house and spent several days with Pastor Gary Grogan and his unbelievable staff from Stone Creek Church in Urbana, IL. Ever since Choi came back from that trip he hasn’t stopped talking about his time in Urbana.
Stone Creek Church is a very diverse church that ministers to a lot of international students that attend the University of Illinois. Every year they have a special service celebrating the Chinese New Year. Koreans also celebrate the Lunar New Year so we decided to make a short video wishing Stone Creek and Pastor Gary Grogan a Happy New Year!
